The Third Ethnic Physician Organization Summit was both an extension of the first two and a significant event in its own right. As with the previous Summits, the October 2003 meeting provided participants with opportunities to network, share experiences and perspectives, and collectively review and discuss the critical health issues affecting their communities' practices. The Summit included presentations on best practices from Ethnic Physician Organizations, informative and thought provoking workshops on a variety of topics important to ethnic physicians and the communities they serve, and speakers who are the leading voices on health policy and practice issues in California.

Yet, this Third Summit differed both in tone and expectations. First, even with new participants, the leaders of the Ethnic Physician Organizations active in the Network have moved beyond the somewhat cautious introductory phase that marked their first meetings. They have come to know each other's organizations and concerns, to have achieved a degree of comfort with the concept and reality of the Network, and to have established those personal bonds that are essential to the growth of a collaborative.

Second, they arrived with high expectations, an attitude that replaced the degree of uncertainty that they brought to the prior two Summits. For the Third Summit, they took for granted that the project would be of high quality, that they would accomplish important work, and that the bonds they began to develop during the first and second Summits would be strengthened.

And third, participants arrived at the Summit with a sense of history and a view towards the future. They understood they had made an impact on the direction of health policy in California and were seeking ways to expand their influence.

In this report, the reader will see the increasing maturity of the Network reflected in the deliberations and products of the Summit. If you were among the participants of any of the Summits, I invite you to read this report as a celebration of your work and commitment to the Network. If you have not yet had the opportunity to join us, please receive this report as an invitation to learn more about the Network.

For additional information about the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations project, please visit www.ethnicphysicians.org or contact Ernie Tai, the project's director, at etai@cmanet.org or 916 551-2545.

Sincerely,

Rolland C. Lowe, MD, Chair
CMA Foundation Board